Connect: Year 2

Dear Families,

It’s been a very busy few weeks in the classroom as students have been completing assessments and teachers have been working hard behind the scenes to prepare reports. While it’s always a big time of term, it has also been such a great opportunity to reflect on just how much growth and learning has happened across the cohort. We are incredibly proud of the effort, persistence and positive attitude our students have shown throughout the term. They have continued to challenge themselves, support one another and give things a go, even when learning feels tricky. It has been wonderful to see their confidence grow, and we look forward to celebrating all of their achievements with you.

Thanks for your support, 

Hailee, Emma, Dave and Andrew 

Upcoming Learning 

Literacy 

In Stage 7.5 of the Little Learners Love Literacy scope and sequence, students continue building their understanding of the extended code by exploring more complex spelling patterns, long vowel sounds, alternative graphemes and word endings. Students are developing confidence reading and spelling multisyllabic words while also learning about morphology, including common suffixes and spelling rules. Students are strengthening their fluency, vocabulary and comprehension skills during this time.

We have started our new reading unit 'The True Story of the Three Little Pigs' this week. Students have enjoyed hearing the well-known story from the viewpoint of the wolf and whilst some are still suspicious, many of the Grade Two's have empathised with the wolf and had their eyes opened to the meaning of the word ' truth.' Whilst exploring this text, students will be writing persuasive letters from the perspective of the wolf to another fairytale villain. You can enjoy the story below!

Maths

Over the next few weeks, we will begin our Addition and Subtraction 2 unit, where students will build on their current understanding to solve more complex part-part whole equations. They will be exposed to strategies such as the split strategy and will investigate regrouping place value parts when needed. 

Thank you to those who were able to join us for the Maths Zoo last week. We have linked one of the games, Greater Than, for you and your family to enjoy! You can also ask your child how to play '9 Piles' using a set of playing cards.

Science - Push and Pull Forces

Students will explore the strength and direction of push and pull forces and their effects on objects' movement and shape. They will explore the concept of gravity and conduct floating and sinking experiments to explore buoyant force. Students will design and build a device using pushes or pulls.

Essential Questions 

• How do push and pull forces affect the shape and movement of objects?
• What are the effects of gravity and buoyancy?

Wellbeing

Our Term 2 focus will be on 'Strengthening Connections.' We will be covering the following topics and activities during Term 2! If you would like to read more, you can access the resource book by clicking the green button below!

A Japanese Update

2A and 2B students explored Japanese culture by creating beautiful Koinobori fish with Mrs Critchlow in Japanese 🎏Traditionally flown in Japan to celebrate Children’s Day, Koinobori symbolise strength, courage and perseverance, inspired by the story of a carp swimming upstream. The students loved learning about the meaning behind these colourful creations! ✨

National Simultaneous Storytime

The Grade Two students participated in National Simultaneous Storytime. The event featured the book Luna Roo: The Kangaroo Baller by Adam Jackson and Adrian Lloyd, illustrated by Jake A. Minton. It was the story of a vibrant and energetic underdog story that encourages children to practice soccer skills and overcome challenges. You can check it out below!

A Celebration of Learning

Our learners enjoyed discovering the amazing power of trees through the beautiful book The Gentle Genius of Trees! Students were amazed to learn how trees communicate, support wildlife, clean the air and even help keep our planet healthy. We explored fascinating facts about trees and discussed why they are such an important part of our world. Using this new knowledge, students practised their informative writing skills by creating detailed paragraphs with a clear opening sentence, supporting details and a concluding sentence. They worked hard to organise their ideas and include interesting facts to teach their readers all about trees. To bring their learning to life, students also designed labelled diagrams filled with scientific details and creative touches. We are so proud of the thoughtful writing and beautiful work our students produced!